I am a cultural, medical, and visual anthropologist who researches disability in contemporary Japan and the United States at the University of California, Berkeley. My first project was on sign language, identity, and deaf social movements and resulted in a monograph and edited volume. After that, my second project was on schizophrenia and community-based recovery in Japan and this resulted in a book, its translation, and two films.
I'm currently running the UC Berkeley Disability Lab and the Othering and Belonging Institute's Disability Studies research cluster while finishing a third project which explores the intersections of disability, gender, and sexuality, which will result in a book titled: Trans/Japan. After that, I am working on a project on artificial intelligence and disability.
If you're applying to graduate school at UC Berkeley, read this page before you contact me (otherwise I'll just refer you back to it). It tells you what I'd need to know from you in order to give your a personal response.
Research interests: Disability movements, technology and social policy, identity politics, gender, and sexuality.
Other hats
In addition to my academic position at Cal, I also wear a few other hats:
- I'm the secretary of the Faculty Coalition for Disability Rights, which is an organization of faculty (including adjuncts, emeriti, lecturers, GSIs, and others in teaching roles) who are at UC Berkeley and are concerned about access at the university
Accessibility: This site uses Javascript dropdown menubars but there is a full accessible sitemap, which can also be accessed at the bottom of each page.
Contact Info
Robert and Colleen Haas Distinguished Chair in Disability Studies and Professor of Anthropology University of California Berkeley knak@berkeley.edu | Department of Anthropology 232 AAPB Building (formerly known as Kroeber Hall) Berkeley, CA 94720-3710 USA disability.jp/nakamura ORCID: 0000-0003-4335-2818 |